North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the mercurial strongman extolled at home as the "Dear Leader" and reviled abroad as a tyrant, died at 69 on Saturday Dec. 17, 2011. No cause of death was reported, but Kim was believed to have suffered in recent years from diabetes and heart disease.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the mercurial strongman extolled at home as the "Dear Leader" and reviled abroad as a tyrant, died at 69 on Saturday Dec. 17, 2011. No cause of death was reported, but Kim was believed to have suffered in recent years from diabetes and heart disease. (Sasha Mordovets/Getty)